Older Than the Other One

Another scary place coming up…


Sanahin Monastery, Armenia

This is my last post on Armenia (relieved, huh?). This was the last place we visited in Armenia before crossing the border into Georgia by hired car. If you like old churches, and places where horror movies are made of, this is the right place to be - Armenia!

Welcome to the Sanahin Monastery! Sanahin means ‘older than the other one’ presumably in comparison with the Haghpat Monastery which is located on the same plateau, but separated by a few gorges. We did not visit Haghpat (we thought it’d be a monastery too many! Besides, the taxi wanted a lot more money, if we make another stop). Anyway, Sanahin is at least a thousand years old. (Yeah, no kidding, according to Wikipedia). It was built in the 10th century! This place brings up scenes of vampires lurking in its dark interiors, or demonic spirits trapped beneath ancient hidden underground vaults. OK, that’s all my imagination. Anyway, here’re photos of Sanahin. Enjoy!


Wow, what’s this? The mother of all crosses? Errmm… it’s actually the …let’s Google it …Holy Cross monument (just north of the Armenian Alphabet Monument – I didn’t know such a place exists) on the M3 Road heading north, from Yerevan to Sanahin – (It’s about 33km north from Yerevan. We saw it from our cab)


Getting ready for a vampire hunt? – Sanahin Monastery 2018, Armenia


“That’s my stone! Koko!” Everywhere’s a playground for the kids, regardless of vampires, ghosts or werewolves – Sanahin Monastery


Barricaded! Who knows what horrors lie within? Or maybe it’s just the renovation works…


Wait, there’s a way in…




The interiors of the monastery


“Stop it BOYS! You’re stepping on people’s tombstones…” (Actually there’s no way to avoid them tombstones…)


Is that a fallen chandelier or some ritualistic altar of some sort???


A broken cross (khachkar)


Run! Granny’s coming! (‘Granny’ is the killer from the survival horror video game of the same name which the kids play. Granny can hear almost everything and come hunting for you if you make some sound. The objective of the game is to escape Granny’s house). ...Nah, it’s just the lady priest of the monastery…

OK, that’s all folks. Till next time.

On the home front, the kids have started school. Despite the Pandemic! Summer has ended. (UAE has an official summer period where all mid-day work in the open is banned – 15-Jun to 15-Sep). That’s also the day my Project’s work was expected to finish (but we still have a tiny li’l bit of work left). After this, …I really hope my company comes up with some new Projects soon… Fingers crossed.

The Haunted House of My Childhood

It’s the Ghost Month, in the Chinese Calendar. (Actually, it’s been the Ghost Month for the past 20-plus days now). In Malaysia, my granny (when she was still around) and elders would advise us youngsters (then) not to venture out at night, for this is the month where the gates of hell are flung open for the ghosts to roam around freely in the land of the living! Interesting?

In Malaysia, especially in the Chinese areas, you’d see stage performances near Chinese temples, set up for empty seats, food served for no one, lots of burning of incense, joss paper and hell money (no, ghosts aren’t bothered about environmental issues).

So, here’s a short picture post for just this occasion… Our visit to the haunted house of my childhood – Kellie’s Castle.

When I visited this place for the first time during my teenage years in the 80’s, it wasn’t a friggin tourist attraction. It was just a haunted house in the jungle, where us kids knew about from our friends, who knew about it from their friends, and so forth. It was a place we could boast about to the other kids that we ‘survived’! At that time, the ‘castle’ was surrounded by huge trees and jungle, with no visitors (we were very likely trespassing, OK?)

I think the authorities realized its tourism potential eventually, cleared up the jungle (No!), gave it a nice touch up (NO!!), added a tourist office and some flowering shrubs (NO!!!). (You SPOILT it! So, how does that look like a haunted house now?!?) I was so let down by the beautification desecration (you could see the neatly trimmed lawn and fluttering flags from the road when you're driving past - who puts flags on a haunted house?!?) that I never visited the place again, …until last year, with my wife and kids in tow. Sometimes tourism just screws up the experience that a place originally exudes. (Same treatment with the Lata Kinjang Waterfall, which was a gem only a few of us students knew about when we were kids, but became packed with tourists, vendors, and you name it after they completed the North-South Highway, and made it into a tourist attraction!)

Anyway, presenting the beautified Kellie’s Castle. I bet you that whatever ghosts that used to haunt this place, would’ve fled ages ago.


Kellie’s Castle, Batu Gajah, Perak, Malaysia




A secret staircase that leads from an upper room to the outside


A still scary corridor


Ghosts seen thru the windows of the castle (Oh, it’s us!)




These kids aren’t even a little scared! They think it’s a friggin playground!




Mommy’s victory over the haunted house




Smile – Kellie’s Castle, Perak 2019

The ADAC Fellowship

It’s Onam! (…Was Onam, day before yesterday actually. And Malaysian National Day. Today’s actually the Hungry Ghost Festival. OK, I’m diverging. Let’s get back to our topic). Onam is the main festival celebrated by people from the Indian state of Kerala, or people of Malayalee origin. The bulk of the expat population in the UAE so happens to be Malayalees, and therefore there’re no shortage of Onam celebrations here (except this year… this COVID thing has definitely put a damper on celebrations). Sharing some photos of what we did for Onam a few years back in the ADAC Project.


ADAC Project Onam Party 2017 – Wide Range Restaurant, Mussafah (ME-10), Abu Dhabi. OK, I’ll try to recall the names – Left-most table, from left: Half-hidden face; Anil Ramachandran (CAD); Mahafil (Admin, Document Controller, Arabic translator and organizer of events); Shihab (I think) (Safety). Front table, from left: Premaraj (Stores); Rasi (Supervisor); Kutty (CAD); Somebody I completely forgot. Back table: Strangers who’re not part of our group

The good thing about the ADAC Project is that the team there has a habit of organizing gatherings and outings! (A skill which I absolutely suck at, unfortunately). Also unfortunately, the ADAC Project is still officially incomplete (we haven’t frigggin got the Taking-Over Certificate yet) even though we had finished everything and completely demobilized team, office & everything, in 2018! Double unfortunately, I am the friggin Project Manager.

(By the way, ADAC means Abu Dhabi Airport Company. It’s the name of our Client. We built the roads and bridges i.e. the Departure and Arrival ramps to the new Midfield Terminal Complex which was under construction. Correction, is under construction, still).

OK, nuff said. Here’s a look back at the gatherings of the ADAC Team. Enjoy!


It’s a multi-racial Onam party! From right: Tang Zhao (Site Engineer); Yours Truly; Shaji (Contracts Manager)


From right: Anoop (Safety); Vinod (Works Superintendent); The Electrician (I think) (But I forgot the name); Somnath (I think) (Office Assistant); Naresh (with head turning towards camera) (QAQC); the rest to the left I’ve forgotten…


The Commercial Team – Hisham (QS) (left) and Anver (Senior QS) (right)


Gang of Four, at our Project. From left: Faseeh Ullah (Site Engineer); Firas Biedas (Deputy PM who had resigned, I was deployed to take over from him); Rana Raza (Construction Manager); Yours truly, ahem… Behind, we’re laying red sand asphalt


The Three Musketeers. From left: Shaji (Contracts Manager); Aruna (QAQC Manager); and John Jose (Engineering Manager) at the Senior Project Manager’s room in the Site Office


Ahmed Reda, Utilities Engineer and his tactile paver mock-up


Awards time: Our Utilities Superintendent, Biju Surendran receiving a certificate of appreciation from ADAC’s Head of Security, Tihomir Grubisa with Security Officer, Jnyana Nayak looking on


12 million man-hours worked without an LTI (loss-time injury)! A safety record! From left: Nishad Chengot (Safety Manager); Alex George (Our Company’s Corporate Safety Director); Emad Yacoub (Senior Project Manager, my boss); Yours truly; Zhu Jianchao (Our Company’s Chief Engineer and Vice President in charge of QHSE); Tarek Emara (Our Company’s Corporate Quality Director); Mark Wei (General Manager & Head of our Civil & Infrastructure Division); Thomas Daniel (Our Divisional Safety Manager)


An outing to a farm! Chicken coops, turkey coops, etc, at a farm in Al Rahba, Abu Dhabi – Here’s (from right) Ahmed Elkadi (Site Engineer), Tang Zhao and Rahul Sasi (QS). Here’s a link to a photo of our lunch at the farm


Fresh farm produce for sale! From left: Mahafil (Admin / Doc Control …but doesn’t he look a little like the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia?); Rajesh Lakshmanan (Machinery Coordinator); Jithin Jose (Document Controller); Rajesh Nadar (Planning Manager); and Rasi


Hey Rajesh! What are you trying to steal!!! – Farm at Al Rahba


Finally, here’s a function where our Company brought the Mayor of the City of Kinshasa (DRC) for a visit to the Midfield Terminal Complex Project of the Abu Dhabi Airport. (Another Division of our Company was the contractor for the steel structures of the complex). In the middle, with the chequered shirt is Dong Wei, my boss at that time, VP and head of the Civil & Infrastructure Division. Beside him I think is the Mayor. The only woman in the group is the Chinese-French translator for the Mayor. Left-most seated is Fu Chunlei, Head of Tender & Cost Control Dept of our Division. Second from left standing is Zhang Yutian, Admin Manager – Nov 2017

That’s all for now folks!

Adventures with a Broken Car

Orbelian Caravanserai on the Selim Mountain Pass (Vardenyats Pass), Armenia – showing our little red car

OK, here’s the continuation of the story of how we made it back to Yerevan from the “Hills Have Eyes Hotel” Park Khoren (near Noravank) with a blasted broken car.

The fastest and most direct way back to Yerevan from Park Khoren was using the route we came from. It’d be 112km and take about 2 hours (but what’s the adventure in that??).

Alternatively, we could take the route going north to the shores of Lake Sevan and then back to the capital. It’ll pass thru a mountain pass to reach Lake Sevan, go along the shores of the lake to the town of Sevan (where we can make a stop at the lakeside monastery Sevanavank), and then head back (which definitely sounds more exciting). That’d be about 218km (according to Google Maps) and take 3.5 hours.

Knowing full well of the series of unfortunate incidents that had already happened in the morning of that fateful day, i.e. 1. We couldn’t bloody start the car for some reason unknown to us (at that time); 2. Jayden could’ve drowned falling into Lake Khoren; 3. We had to friggin break the lock of our brand new travel bag, we decided to proceed ahead with the more ‘exciting’ route. Car fault or no! Yes, we’re insane.


Little red car, at Park Khoren

And so we bid adieu to the old housekeeper of Park Khoren (who helped us push start our car) and went our way towards the Selim Mountain Pass. We drove past Arpi and Getap and had stopped near Shatin to fill our water bottles from one of the many free flowing Armenian drinking fountains, when I got a phone call! “…Huh? Someone calling me from Armenia?” Turned out to be the proprietor of Park Khoren who asked us where the keys to the cabin was. Shit, I was carrying it in my pocket to return it to the old man, but due to all those problems, I COMPLETELY FRIGGIN FORGOT!

We headed back. Yup, we’re responsible tourists who do not run away with hotel keys. Park Khoren also sent a vehicle out to look for us heading our way. We were almost there, I think near Arpi, when I noticed a car honking repeatedly at us from the rear. We stopped, and there, was the old man of Park Khoren. Sorry and thank you, that’s your keys back.

Made a U-turn and headed back for the Selim Mountain Pass…


Selim Mountain Pass / Vardenyats Pass, looking south, just north of the Vayots Dzor border


Selim Mountain Pass from the 14th century Caravanserai


The kids and the Orbelian / Selim Caravanserai


Inside the eerie Caravanserai… As is evident in its name, it was built as a halfway stop for travellers. Caravanserais were halfway stops common all over the Silk Route and Mongol-Islamic Khanates & Kingdoms in the Middle Ages


Hey Honey, where are you going? – Selim / Vardenyats Mountain Pass

Oops, the car couldn’t start. (So it’s definitely not the car lights, as the battery would have recharged by then after all that driving. Must be the blasted alternator). Luckily yours truly was smart enough to park it near a slope. A little push and there it goes. What the heck, let’s get on with the trip.


We reached Lake Sevan! Left the car engines on, but it stalled by itself. Luckily we were on a slope. Getting worried now.

Drats! It stalled again, halfway to Sevanavank, this time in a friggin dip in a rutted part of the road. How do I friggin push start it? Luckily, I got a missus who ain’t shy about asking for help. Some helpful passersby helped us push start and we reached Sevanavank! I parked the car on a parking lot with the front facing a downward slope, hehe!


The shores of Lake Sevan, Sevanavank – “Hey Jayden, we’re not here to play on the water! You forgot you already took a dip in a lake this morning??”


“Hey! Careful OK?” - Sevanavank, Armenia


Lake Sevan, Armenia – from Sevanavank


Let’s go! We’ve got 80km to make it back to Yerevan. Let’s hope everything goes well.

We successfully rolled our way down the slope to start the car, but on the journey back, we realized that every tiny little electrical thing that we used, horn, indicator, air-friggin-conditioner, slowed the engine down to the point of stalling! We switched everything off (luckily it wasn’t night yet!), including the AC! We reached Yerevan (yes!) but stalled twice in the city, in rush hour. The last stalling was near our hotel when I wanted to turn into a side road. I had to come down in the middle of a traffic jam and push the car (our car was friggin obstructing traffic on the back and front) amidst honks, across a major road. Luckily the side road had a slight slope downwards. That was the last straw. I found a parking spot, called the car rental company (Peнtmotopc) and told them I couldn’t get the car going any further and asked them to come and collect it (our rental was till the next morning, but since we were leaving Armenia for Georgia by cab on the next day, we didn’t need it the next morning anyway). (I had informed them of the fault in the morning before we started, so they knew the problem). (They checked the car and agreed to waive the cleaning and extra fees, etc…) And that was how we made it back to Yerevan with a blasted broken car!

Peнtmotopc is how you write it in Russian. Guess the name of Peнtmotopc in English. (P=R, H=N, C=S).

…Yup, Rentmotors!


We made it! Top of the hill, Sevanavank, Sevan, Armenia